Cloverdale votes to remove Butler as coach

CLOVERDALE -- Cloverdale football was about the only thing on peoples' minds during the Cloverdale School Board meeting on Monday evening.

Parents and students again showed up in support of their coach, John Butler, who was officially relieved of his coaching duties.

Once again the Cloverdale community made its presence known to the Cloverdale School Board as spokesman for the community, Dan Boyd, addressed issues of "faulty reviews" and not giving Butler a fair chance.

Butler, who just finished his second year as coach in October, had a 4-18 record in his seasons as Cloverdale head coach.

Although they may not have won that much, the players and the parents learned a lot from Butler and considered him a wonderful role model, supporters said.

"Coach Butler has been supportive both mentally and physically," student Robert St. John said. "He's teaching us to become leaders."

The community seemed to be in agreement on Butler, with those present saying they wanted him to stay.

Butler attended Monday night's meeting but chose not to speak. He was visibly upset with the decision that was made.

"They made their mind up a long time ago," Butler told the Banner Graphic. "Officially, I'm disappointed. It's always disappointing when you lose an opportunity to do what you like doing. The school board has decided what they feel is best for their football program.

"Now it's time to move on," Butler added. "It's time for me to think about what I want to do, how I want to do it, regarding football and where I go from here."

The Cloverdale School Board chose not to address the issue in front of the public on Monday. Six of the seven school board members voted to approve the personnel report with board member Brian Asbury abstaining.

"I'd like to think they made a good decision with me. I'm sure they'll make a good decision with the next head coach that they hire," Butler said.

"It was a pleasure to be the head coach here for the time I was here. The boys learned a lot. I think they learned a lot about themselves and it was a pleasure watching these young guys come into their own. They learned a lot about football and they learned a lot about themselves. It was fun to watch, it really was."

Butler will remain at Cloverdale High School as a social studies teacher.

In other business, the Cloverdale School Board again heard from Dan Sulkoske as well as Ben Rawlins on the roofing project progress and mechanical upgrade.

The roofing project is nearly complete at the high school and the elementary school, with just a few minor things to finish up.

At the high school, 95 percent of the metal work is already completed with 25 percent done at the elementary.

"The high school is pretty much done," Sulkoske said. "We are within a week of being substantially complete at the high school."

The demolition of the existing chiller is completed and is right on track. However, both Sulkoske and Rawlins have run into drainage issues around the school including the football field and track.

"It's not able to carry the water from a heavy storm," Rawlins said. "We're going to see if we can help that situation by increasing the slope."

The corporation is hoping to redo its track within the upcoming months. However, due to the draining issues, no work will be able to get done before track season starts.

To fix the drainage issues the school board approved a survey to be done of the land to see how much of a slope will be needed.

"You can't move forward without it," Sulkoske said. "You're going to need that survey sooner or later."

Several Cloverdale High School students came before the board to give an update on Project Glam. The students started the program to make sure all girls are able to go to prom this year by collecting dresses and accessories.

All dresses will be sold March 9. Currently, 100 dresses have been donated and the group is still looking for more. those wishing to donate can contact Jennifer Segner at the high school.

Kathleen Glaser gave an update on ISTEP as students are currently gearing up for the exam.

The first session for the exams will run from March 5-15 and will include ISTEP applied skills, March 19 will include I-Read. Session two will run from April 30-May 9 and will include the ISTEP multiple choice and IMAST.

Currently, the students are using the acuity program to help them prepare.

"It's on the computer and is standards based," Glaser said. "It mirrors the ISTEP. So, whatever subjects the students test in, for their grade level, are on this program."

The program also allows teachers to look at the results to see where their students may be struggling. Students who may also be having trouble in a certain area are provided practice problems to help strengthen their ability.

"The cool thing about the acuity that they have three different testing windows," Glaser said. "When the kids finish their assessment, they'll actually give the kids a score, but in addition to that they will also show you what standards they passed and what standards they didn't. It can be very individualized."

The students are becoming more prepared and comfortable with the test format through the acuity program as well as teachers incorporating the types of questions seen on the ISTEP test into their daily curriculum.

Along with the non-renewal of Butler's coaching contract, the personnel report included the hiring of Carla Bolin as a part-time middle school cafeteria worker and two volunteer coaches, Amber Manion as a middle school girls' track coach and Martika Byrd as an assistant softball coach.

Three students were also honored as students of the month, elementary school student Ruthie Mann, middle school student Austin Perdue and high school student Tanner White.